Star scare tactics

June 21, 2005|By JIMMY GREENFIELD, REDEYE.

These days, celebrities have it all. Fame, fortune and fear. It's not new for celebrities to be targets of their fans, but recent altercations seem to indicate it's not just their fans they have to worry about.

SQUIRTED

The most recent incident comes to us from London, where Tom Cruise was squirted in the face with a water gun by a man pretending to be a reporter during the London premiere of "War of the Worlds."

Fear factor: Minimal. After all, Cruise smiled at first, before asking over and over, "Why would you do that?"

CRASHED

On May 31, Lindsay Lohan was making a U-turn to find a cop when photographer Galo Ramirez intentionally crashed into her car, according to L.A. police. She suffered cuts and bruises but declined medical treatment at the scene, The Associated Press reported.

Fear factor: High. LiLo was scared enough to want to find a cop, and then allegedly was hit on purpose.

CHASED

After leaving her gym in April, Reese Witherspoon got into her car and said she was nearly chased off the road by paparazzi, according to eonline.com. The New York Daily News reported she had one of her reps call the cops with a false imprisonment complaint.

Fear factor: High. A little too reminiscent of the way Princess Diana died.

PUNCHED

Dr. Dre was punched at the Vibe Awards in November by a man who was then stabbed, allegedly by rapper Young Buck, a member of G-Unit.

Fear factor: Medium. The good thing about being Dr. Dre is he can get punched and then tend to his own medical needs.

PIE'D

Last year, a man hurled a custard pie at conservative writer Ann Coulter while she was giving a speech at the University of Arizona. The pie missed its target--her face--but struck her in the shoulder, according to UPI.

Fear factor: Low. The fear factor would have been medium if it had been a blueberry pie and Coulter was wearing white.

SLAPPED

Here's one for the celebs. During a premiere of "The Longest Yard" last month, a TV producer was slapped by Burt Reynolds after the producer acknowledged not having seen either the remake or the 1974 original.

Fear factor: Very minimal. It is a well-known fact that reporters feel no pain and have no feelings.